Wednesday, May 30, 2012

My choice of the above 1907 "Peek-A-Boo" postcard for Sepia Saturday 128 was prompted by a sheet music cover of "I Can't Get Enough Of Your Love" featuring Sophie Tucker posing with a chair. According to the cover of Sophie Tucker's song, that song was one of the first big hits of 1913. I think the model on the postcard even looks a bit like Sophie Tucker.

Some early 1900s comic postcards were based on the same themes as the music that was popular at the time. Therefore, I decided to see if there were any Peek-A-Boo songs published around the same time in the early 1900s. I found several songs along with images of the sheet music covers.

The first cover, for the song titled simply Peek-A-Boo, is my favorite. This image is from the Minnesota Historical Society. The music and words are also shown for this song here. The words are by Chas. S. Finley and the music by A.M. Budke. It was published by St. Paul Music Pub. Co., c1909.

The cover for "When the Moon Plays Peek-A-Boo" was found on eBay. Actually I saw six different versions of this cover there with the same background design but different inset photos. This song was written by W.R. Williams and published 1907 by Will Rossiter Music Publisher of Chicago.

The cover for "Peek-A-Boo Rag" was also found on eBay. That Rag was by Charles L. Johnson, and was published in 1914 by F.J.A. Forster Music Publisher of Chicago. Music and audio of "Peek-A-Boo Rag" and other amusingly named Rags can be found on Rag's Rags.

I also found a few more song titles without images or music. Three titles are listed in Google books Catalog of copyright entries: Musical compositions, Part 3: "You Peek-A-Boo With Your Baby", "Peek-A-Boo," and "When the Girl You Love Plays Peek-A-Boo":

Still another early 1900s Peek-A-Boo song is "The Game of Peek-A-Boo" by Ada Jones, 1907 listed at Lyrics Vault.

Monday, May 28, 2012

This postcard shows the living flag of school children in an early 1900s Decoration Day parade. The location is Sixth Street, west from Robert in St. Paul, Minnesota. The banner stretched across the street advertises St. Paul Horse Show, Lexington Park, June 23, 24, 25, 26.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Hemisfair 1968 World's Fair was held in conjunction with the 250th anniversary of the founding of San Antonio, Texas and ran from April 6 through October 6, 1968. The theme of the fair was "The Confluence of Civilizations in the Americas." More than thirty nations hosted pavilions there. The fair's theme structure was the 750 foot (228 m) tall Tower of the Americas, which remains today as the city's tallest skyscraper. The top of the tower houses a revolving restaurant, lounge, and outdoor observation deck.

The Hemisfair'68 commemorative stamp was issued on on March 30, 1968. The stamp design featured a map of the Americas. The land areas were pink, and the water areas were blue. Curved white lines converged on San Antonio.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Original French Market Coffee Stand. Situated in New Orleans, in the Old Historic French Market. Erected 1813 opposite Jackson Square. Following an old New Orleans custom, both home folks and strangers gather nightly to sip this famous blend of "Café au-Lait" with the French doughnuts. The marble counter in this old Establishment is reported to be over 100 years old.

The historic French Market is one of the prime tourist attractions in New Orleans. It has changed since the 1941 postcard above was published. Here is what this postcard has printed on the back:

The new building housing the French Market were completed in January 1938, on the same ground where stood the old French Market originally built in 1791.

I have never been to New Orleans. If I ever go there, I would definitely want to visit the Café Du Monde and have some of their special coffee and beignets. If you have never been there, watch this video to see what you are missing.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

This postcard shows a downtown train platform of the Chicago Subway with an escalator leading to Adams and Jackson.

From the back of the postcard:

Every latest improvement in Automatic Signal and Train control Devices has been installed. An interlocking block system of signal reduces the human equation to the minimum. Signals operate at specific timed periods and permit no train to pass a "block" until the line is clear.

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Safety of patrons was the major concern of the designers and builders of the Chicago Subway. The Signal and Train Control System is the latest type. New safety features were specially developed for the Escalators.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Legionville is a camp sponsored by the Minnesota Department of the American Legion, to instruct boys and girls in School Patrol methods, conservation, first aid and water safety. The camp is located on North Long Lake, 8 miles northeast of Brainerd.

This postcard is circa 1961. Judging by the Legionville website, the camp does not seem to have changed much in the last 50 years.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Old United States stamps are still valid for postage. When buying postcards through the mail, it is not too unusual to receive them in an envelope bearing a variety of old stamps.

The first group of stamps above was on a large mailer sent via media mail. I received these this week and the May 12 postmark is visible. There isn't a readable postmark on the second group, but I know I received it not too long ago. This is a graphic demonstration of inflation in postage prices--each of these 6¢ stamps would have been sufficient for a first class letter when the stamp was issued.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Above is a photo postcard of a group of people at the Second Dam at Athens, Wisconsin. There is no information on the back, so I don't know the date or what kind of group this is. There are many more women than men, and all seem to be fairly young. The man sitting at the center front may be some kind of leader. I also don't know whether the pile of logs is part of the dam, or if it is just a pile of logs.

Below is an enlarged detail giving a clearer view of the people in the photo.

Athens had several sawmills in the early 1900s. The Rietbrock Lumber Company sawmill was built on the banks of Black Creek in 1888. The book that was written for the Athens, Wisconsin Centennial 1890-1990 has a chapter on sawmills. There are photos of the sawmill and the logging operations in the area. There is also a photo of the Second Dam which was "upstream from the mill at the swimming hole site."

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Above is an oversize (5-1/2" X 7-5/8")postcard advertising Northern Pacific Railway's North Coast Limited. This is a view of the Lewis and Clark Traveller's Rest Buffet-Lounge car, designed by industrial designer Raymond Loewy. The Lewis and Clark-themed interior of the Traveller’s Rest car was added in 1955. Below is a standard size postcard of the train's Vista-Dome interior.

The images used on these postcards were also used in the 1956 magazine ad for the Vista-Dome North Coast Limited shown below (source: Wikipedia). According to the ad, this was the only train between Chicago and the North Pacific Coast that offered the attention of a friendly Stewardess-Nurse.

Monday, May 14, 2012

This postcard pictures the members of the Knights of Columbus work party with the Walleye and Northern Pike caught on their annual outing to Lake of the Woods. The people in the photo were from Hastings, Minnesota. The location is American Point Resort, Penasse, Minnesota.

This postcard was postmarked at Penasse on June 17, 1966. There is no writing in the message section on the back. Possibly someone was just interested in getting a Penasse postmark. Penasse is the northernmost populated place in the contiguous United States. It had a post office from 1920 to 1969 that was the farthest north in the lower 48 states.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Mary Cassatt (1844 – 1926) was an American artist who often painted the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the relationship between mothers and children. The 5-cent stamp inspired by Mary Cassatt's painting "The Boating Party" was the sixth stamp in the annually-issued American Painting Series. It was issued on November 17, 1966. The original oil painting is in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

This stamp was printed using a Giori printing press. Six inks were applied in two passes through the Giori press, and these were blended and overlaid to create many additional tones. With this type of press, each color is applied to only that portion of the plate which is required to print that color. The ink rollers are themselves printing plates which "print" their ink onto the plate which in turn prints on the paper.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Shown above is the envelope from Set I, Series No. 4500 of The Queen's Dolls' House postcards. This series is one of six series of eight Queen's Dolls' House postcards made by Raphael Tuck & Sons. The envelope lists the cards in this set.

Queen Mary's Dolls' House is a doll's house built in the early 1920s, completed in 1924, for Queen Mary, the wife of King George V.

The idea for building it originally came from the Queen's cousin, Princess Marie Louise, who discussed her idea with one of the top architects of the time, Sir Edwin Lutyens at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition of 1921. Sir Edwin agreed to construct the dolls' house and began preparations. Princess Marie Louise had many connections in the arts and arranged for the top artists and craftsmen of the time to contribute their special abilities to the house. As a result, the dolls' house has an amazing collection of miniature items that actually work. It even has running water through its tiny pipes. It was created as a gift to Queen Mary from the people, and to serve as an historical document on how a royal family might have lived during that period in England.

It showcased the very finest and most modern goods of the period. Later the dolls' house was put on display to raise funds for the Queen's charities. It was originally exhibited at the British Empire Exhibition, 1924–1925, and is now on display in Windsor Castle, at Windsor, Berkshire, England, as a tourist attraction, especially to people with an interest in miniature houses and furniture.

It was made to a scale of 1:12 (one inch to one foot), is over three feet tall, and contains models of products of well-known companies of the time. It is remarkable for its detail and the detail of the objects within it, many of which are 1/12 replicas of items in Windsor Castle. These were either made by the companies themselves, or by specialist modelmakers, such as Twining Models of Northampton, England. The carpets, curtains and furnishings are all copies of the real thing, and even the light fittings are working. The bathrooms are fully plumbed; that includes a flushable toilet and miniature lavatory paper.

Below are scans of four of the postcards in this series showing the Garden Entrance and Dining Room. The text below each image is from the back of that postcard.

An excellent website for exploring the dollhouse is The Royal Collection: Queen Mary's Dolls' House. Other Tuck postcards of the Queen's Dolls' House are shown in the Tuck Postcards Database here. This view of the kitchen from the database is the closest to the Sepia Saturday 125 picture:

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The vintage Greyhound Bus is what attracted me to this postcard, but it is the roses that are the attraction in Tyler, Texas. Tyler is a city in east Texas named after President John Tyler and nicknamed "The Rose Capital of America.”

Roses have long been a major industry in Tyler. Tyler is the site of America's largest rose garden, an annual Rose Festival, and a Rose Museum. The 79th Texas Rose Festival, scheduled for October 18-20, 2012, will celebrate the places, faces and facets of the Orient.

There is a Greyhound Station in Tyler, so it is still possible to travel to Tyler by Greyhound Bus.

Monday, May 7, 2012

This is a postcard-size card showing the Minnesota Over 60 Band. The back has a printed list of members and some of the places where the band had appeared. The last date on the list is 1979 which gives an approximate date of the card. This picture is more recent than any of the other pictures of the band that I saw on the internet. Earlier pictures show the band members wearing light color shirts and dark uniforms with a jacket.

The band is headquartered in Gaylord, Minnesota, but has members from a wide area. The members list on the card shows only a few members from Gaylord itself.

The Minnesota Over 60 Band had its beginning in 1953 and was inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in 2003. The photo below is from the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame and shows a 1955 date lettered on the bass drum.

The Minnesota Over 60 Band performs in parades, at county fairs and in a variety of other venues during the summer months. It plays a variety of music including waltzes, polkas and marches. The band does not march itself, but uses a bandwagon in parades.